Thursday, US stocks gained for a 4th session running, and Wall Street’s major indexes hit record highs as concerns faded over the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak in China.
China said it would pare by 50% additional tariffs levied against some US goods, seen as a move to boost confidence ahead of Phase 2 of the President’s trade deal.
Adding to the optimism for stocks were data showing that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped to a 9-month low last week, with investors casting an eye to Friday’s monthly US employment report, aka NFPs.
With Q-4’s corporate reporting season more than halfway done, S&P 500 companies are expected to have increased earnings by 2.1% for the frame, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Thursday, the major US stock market indexes finished at: DJIA +88.92 at 29379.68, NAS Comp +63.47 at 9572.17, S&P 500 +11.09 at 3345.78
- NAS Comp +6.7% YTD
- S&P 500 +3.6% YTD
- DJIA +3.0% YTD
- Russell 2000 +0.5% YTD
About 7.3-B shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 7.7-B daily average over the last 20 sessions.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.07-to-1 ratio, on the NAS, a 1.11-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 62 new 52-wk highs and no new lows, the NAS Comp recorded 122 new highs and 41 new lows.
HeffX-LTN’s overall technical outlook for the major US stock market indexes is Very Bullish in here/
Looking ahead: investors will receive the Employment Situation Report for January, the Wholesale Inventories report for December, and the Consumer Credit report for December Friday.
Stay tuned…
